Xinhua Commentary | Maintaining Pork Prices Requires Steadfastness and Collective Effort

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 30 —
Title: Steadying Pork Prices Requires Resolve and Cohesion

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gu Yiping

Recently, hog prices have continued to fall, with pig prices in many places reaching their lowest levels in recent years. Hog prices are tied to residents’ “vegetable baskets” on one end and to producers’ “money bags” on the other. They concern both the保障 of people’s livelihoods and the stability of the market, and therefore require close attention and precise responses.

This round of a large drop in hog prices has been driven by multiple factors. On the demand side, trends such as changes in population structure and the diversification of livestock and poultry product consumption have kept pork consumption weak overall; combined with the post–Spring Festival off-season, demand has remained sluggish. On the supply side, hog production capacity has been temporarily on the high side, production efficiency has improved rapidly, and market supply has been at a high level. At the same time, feed costs for pigs such as soybean meal have risen, and some breeders are facing losses, expecting hog prices to run steadily.

Given the complex situation, to stabilize hog prices, ensure supply, and protect people’s livelihoods, the government and the industry must work in the same direction and pool their efforts.

Government measures must be precise and effective, ensuring they are implemented with results. Since last year, relevant departments have strengthened monitoring and early-warning for hog production and taken steps such as sending notices to key provinces and holding talks with leading enterprises to guide them, pushing for a high-level pullback in hog production capacity. Recently, the state has started centralized procurement and storage of central government frozen pork reserves, and has also guided localities to simultaneously increase their efforts in buying and storing. Next, it is necessary to keep pace with market developments, step up regulation of hog production capacity, press down and solidify local territorial responsibilities, supervise relevant enterprises to fulfill their commitments to reduce capacity, promote better alignment between supply and demand, and help hog prices stabilize.

The industry must maintain its resolve and follow market rules. Hog production has a fixed cycle: changes in the stock of breeding sows take about 10 months to transmit to hog shipments. Enterprises should discard short-term speculative mindsets, reasonably optimize herd structure, strictly rein in blind expansion, and actively reduce costs and improve efficiency. Leading enterprises should play an exemplary role even more—looking ahead, operating rationally, and jointly maintaining a healthy industry ecosystem.

The more sluggish the market, the more important it is to hold the line on disease prevention. The period when the breeding industry incurs losses is often also a time when diseases are easier to break out; laxity in prevention and control can easily lead to even greater losses. Localities must, without relaxing, do a good job in hog disease prevention and control, strictly implement quarantine and supervision, and build a solid safety barrier for the industry.

“The hog cycle” is a globally common industrial规律 and a market-economy phenomenon. The key to stabilizing prices lies in respecting the规律 and making persistent efforts. All parties should work together to ensure that policies for stabilizing prices and ensuring supply are implemented in detail, enhance the industry’s ability to withstand risks, and help the hog market move forward steadily—so as to both keep residents’ “vegetable baskets” steady and protect breeders’ “money bags.” (End)